Tens of thousands of Palestinians left without water as Israeli firm cuts supplies – report

An Israeli supply firm has cut off water for a West Bank area, according to media. Tens of thousands of Palestinians now reportedly have no access to safe drinking water and are forced to buy water tanks as they fast for Ramadan amid the June heat.

Mekorot, the main supplier of several Palestinian towns and cities, stopped providing water to the municipality of Jenin, a number of Nablus villages and the city of Salfit and its surrounding villages, Gulf News and Al Jazeera reported.

In several locations, people haven’t had water for over 40 days, according to Ayman Rabi, the executive director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group.

"People are relying on purchasing water from water trucks or finding it from alternative sources such as springs and other filling points in their vicinity," he told Al Jazeera.

"Families are having to live on two, three or 10 liters per capita per day," he said, adding that in some areas they had started rationing water.

The UN puts the minimum of water essential per person per day at 7.5 liters, but in hotter areas like Palestine, those requirements may be much higher. Moreover, June temperatures may run as high as 35 Centigrade, while it is also the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims are fasting.

Last week, the Israeli Army revoked permits to visit the country for 83,000 Palestinians, and announced it would deploy hundreds of troops to the occupied West Bank in response to attacks in Tel Aviv that left four Israelis dead and six wounded.

Israeli authorities also suspended 204 work permits of the attackers’ relatives, and sealed off the alleged attackers’ entire hometown.